Reference: Copyright/Piracy Research

**This is a Work-In-Progress. I am going through my own bookmarks to find the most helpful resources, but my own list is far from exhaustive. If you have a link that should be here PLEASE let me know!**

Research, court decisions, and anecdotes on the effects of copyright and piracy in creative industries.

RESEARCH

These are the numbers: independent, academic, and government studies that provide hard data. Research does not always support piracy or proove, unequivocally, that it either hurts OR helps the creative industries. What it does do, however, is challenge the dominant narrative (piracy = theft = loss of sales = downfall), force questions of our assumptions (they just want everything for free!), substantiate or refute speculation (Hey, maybe letting people share freely might help us after all…), and counter the emotional, knee-jerk reactions to anecdotes (I can’t feed my cats because PIRATES!) The fact is, we’ve all heard the Piracy costs us BILLIONS! story. Academic institutions, governments, and independant researchers and don’t make catchy commercials telling the other side of the story.

2010Government Accountability Report
“…widely cited U.S. government estimates of economic losses resulting from counterfeiting cannot be substantiated due to the absence of underlying studies.”O’Reilly Media
“…Data that we collected for the titles O’Reilly put out showed a net lift in sales for books that had been pirated. So, it actually spurred, not hurt, sales….”

COURT DECISIONS

Court decisions often contradict each other. A judge in one jurisdiction may dismiss a case allowed everywhere else. But, ultimately, laws are upheld or rejected by judicial authorities. And where there is serious contention or ambiguity – like that on piracy and copyright – judges interpret, challenge, or even overturn laws previously endorsed by other branches of government.

Spanish Judge: Piracy May Boost Sales“local judge noted that it’s impossible to determine the damages a seller of pirated copies had caused, because it’s unclear how many people would have bought the products for the original price…..those customers either buy a pirated copy at a low price or they don’t buy an original at a price between 15 and 20 Euros……it is conceivable that a customer, after hearing or viewing the pirated copy, may decide to purchase the original, finding it to their taste, so that the sale of pirated copies, far from harming, benefits the market for original items.“